Teaming up with a the right partners, for the right reasons and at the right time makes sense.

Google and HostGator paired up to promote Adwords to HostGator customers. HostGator mailed out (yes, paper, stamp, old-school) a promotional letter offering its customers a special Adwords discount. In addition, HostGator is using Adwords coupons as an incentive to get people to sign up for a new HostGator account.

I’m not privy to the workings of the deal but I suspect that Google may have financed the mailer and is paying HostGator a commission for new accounts. But why would Google have to?

It comes down to getting mail opened. I get Google Adwords offers in the mail all the time and I don’t bother reading them. But when I get a letter from my hosting company …. I have to take a look.

While Google is a much better-known brand, I have a relationship with Hostgator and that’s what matters. They get my attention. They have my trust. That’s why Google partnered with them.

Big brands make the mistake of overlooking opportunities to partner with smaller brands – but as you can see from this example, sometimes partnering with the little guy makes sense.